CHAPTER 23: LABYRINTHS OF CHALKLANTIS
For most of the 3 years Rudy and Penelope had spent in ChalkZone, the two had made constant plans to visit the lost city of Chalklantis, wishing to one day explore the fabled city and find whatever sort of adventure the two could make of it. 15 years later, after both parties had found their lives completely rearranged, the two have finally entered the city of Chalklantis in their quest to find the Golden Chalk.
Now, just only a few minutes within entering the city, both Rudy and Penelope, as well as Carol and Carlos, the children of Penelope; have all been separated as a group from one another, forced into following different paths. Walking down various strange mazes within Chalklantis, each member of the group all walk alone on their paths, all hopeful that they will meet with each other by the end.
The spirits that comprise the Golden Chalk, the very first shreds of consciousness thought themselves, have made promises of giving each of the humans specially designed challenges suited to thier own personal challenges towards bettering themselves as humans. While Rudy had some idea of the challenges he had to face, already having toppled most of them, the rest of the group did not know what to expect; all growing anxious at what may come next for each of them.
While they each must face their challenges together, they all have the curse of bearing their challenges alone.
CAROL
While the young girl may have been the one to have started the entire series of events that have led Rudy back to his talent and back into the arms of Penelope, her mother, Carol felt as if she was perhaps the least helpful of the group, never having much to do to assist in the quest for the Golden Chalk. Where she may have been the one that was just as knowledgeable about ChalkZone as the others, thanks to Rudy Tabootie's Survival Guide to ChalkZone, that knowledge only made her feel more helpless than before.
Carlos, despite being her younger brother and facing a disability, seemed to be far more capable than her within ChalkZone, despite having no prior knowledge of ChalkZone or social skills. In an environment like ChalkZone, creativity is the key to solving any problem, and Carlos was a bright young child filled with creativity. Carol, however, began her life much like every other young girl: by making numerous friends and being very social, a polar opposite of her brother. Being that the extrovert that she was, Carol was also the member of the group most equipped to handle others emotionally. Despite a few anger issues due to losing her friends by moving, of course.
Facing both moving into a new city, having to leave her friends and past life behind, and having to face a dangerous quest to save the inhabitants of an alternate dimension of beings made of chalk drawings, are two very hard yolks to wear, especially for a 9-year old child. Feeling helpless and alone in her wandering down the walls of the labyrinth that she was set on, Carol began to grow anxious and afraid at what might come next, not sure what to expect in a place where the unexpected should be expected.
Entering a dark hallway, one devoid of light and barely any vision, the air around her suddenly grew cold, causing her skin to tense and shiver. Holding her hands over her arms, rubbing vigorously to keep herself warm, Carol continued down the hallway, hoping to find the end within the tunnel soon. With each step, the air seemed to grow colder and colder, each drop of temperature piercing deeper and deeper into her body, the chill riding down to her bones.
Not able to stand the cold for much longer, Carol turned around and began to head straight for the outside, hoping to find some relief against the discomfort the cold and dark gave her. The exit that was once there, however, was no longer there, leaving her trapped and completely alone in a void of cold and darkness. With her sense of direction now lost, nowhere else to go, and no one else to guide her through the labyrinth, Carol began to grow more and more anxious, not knowing what to do next.
Feeling her breath begin to overwhelm her, Carol fell to the floor, kneeling down in fear that slowly crept its way up her body, beginning to paralyze her limbs and leaving her barely able to move. With the fear of being alone causing her to freeze in place, Carol could no longer move forward through the labyrinth; her own fears and insecurities leaving her defeated in her tracks.
Fading in with the shadows that encapsulated her, her color is now black.
While black and alone, Carol thought herself alone, indistinct from the rest of the shadow, unnoticed to anything that may be watching. This however, proved not to be true, as something had taken notice of her, beginning to move towards her. Carol perceived the coming entity of a threat, continuing to be black as the shadows, blending in so that she would not be seen.
What emerged from the shadows was not a fiend, but a friend. Or, rather, a potential friend. Emerging from the shadows was a dog, a dog of the Pekingese breed. While Carol thought herself unnoticeable from the dog, the dog took immediate notice of her, rushing straight up to her and sniffing at her leg. While Carol knew that the dog was no threat, she still felt unable to do anything else, her own paralyzing fear still leaving her unable to act, still remaining black.
The dog, however, was not willing to let her stay as she was. The dog gave several shrill barks, hoping to lead Carol on. Carol was not so easily moved, however; she still continued to stay in her place, unwilling and unable to move. The dog's efforts did not pay off, but the dog was not willing to give up just yet.
Gently licking her fingers, the dog brought out a few giggles from Carol, its coarse tongue tickling her hand. As Carol began to lightly giggle, her color began to fluctuate, with her paralyzation beginning to leave her as well. Unable to stand the constant tickling of her fingers any longer, Carol finally rose from the ground, emerging from the shadow and again able to move.
Now, her color is orange.
The dog began to walk away, walking back into the shadows of the hall. It did not leave her behind, however, as it stopped just before moving any further. Giving another light bark, the dog encouraged Carol to follow her. Now orange and no longer paralyzed by the darkness and fears that she once had, Carol followed the dog as it requested, reaching the other end of the hallway.
Upon reaching the other end of the hallway, Carol had lost sight of the dog, the dog having left her entirely, and the entrance to the hallway gone. Observing her surroundings, she reached a new area entirely: a forest, filled with trees growing numerous digital objects such as phones, calculators, computers, and other similar objects. The sky, rather than being comprised of air, was filled with water, with puddles of air on the ground. With the area around her changed from a state of visual deprivation to a bizarre place where naught made sense, Carol began to grow confused, now even more unsure.
Now, her color is brown.
Looking for what to do next, Carol explored this strange forest of electronics, analyzing her surroundings as she moved about the woods. With each step she took, the numerous devices made electronic noises, leaving several excessive 'beeps' running through her head.
One phone hanging off a tree began to ring, inviting Carol to pick it up. Picking the phone from the branch of the tree, Carol held her ear to the phone, listening in to whoever might be calling.
"Seohs ruoy ni tnarodoed ruoy htiw eno eht er'uoy, sgubdeb ym t'nera esoht, yeh!" The phone said.
Confused and startled by the phone's incoherent speech, Carol dropped the phone, backing away from it. Just as the phone fell to the ground, many other phones began ringing just as well, all creating a deafening, shrill ringing throughout the forest. Unable to stand the insatiable ringing, Carol covered her ears, trying to block out the sound. Eventually, the phones stopped ringing, but all had went straight to voicemail. With many of the angered callers not being answered, a barrage of numerous voices came out the other end, becoming even more ear-piercing than the ringing.
"Murd ssab a evah t'nod I fi dlrow siht ot stunod gnirb yllaer nac I kniht uoy? Ot deen I fi seert mlap fo drobsagroms laer a thgif ll'I! Live era stunaep!" One phone called.
"Em ekil lio rotom rof gnitsul s'ti dna, wonk uoy, oot, luos a evah I! Rehtom s'grofllub a gnitae skcits yekcoh fo kcas tnaig a si ytinifni ekil leef uoy t'nod? Tsinummoc a ekil hcum os kniht gniddup seod yhw? Another phone called.
"Nroc fo rae dercas eht ot htrib evig ot tellaw eht dnif reven yeht tub, ni riah kcab rieht knis ot enitneprut fo loop a rof hsiw elpoep eht. Ti dnuof eh erehw senob yeknom eht ni kcab epuolatnac sih tup retteb dah laroproc eht. Sdraeb eath yllaer I hcum woh uoy llet reve I did?" A different phone called.
Unable to take any more of the strange, nonsensical speeches that overwhelmed her ears, Carol fleed the forest, running as fast as she could to try to find a place of peace from the insanity happening before her. With nothing around her making sense, and no one to guide her through a strange world, Carol began to lose all sense of hope and sanity, barely able to keep moving forward.
Now, her color is yellow.
After running through what felt like a few miles of forest, Carol suddenly found herself in a field of tall grass, with noses growing out of the wheat of the grass. With each inhale the noses took, a surge of pollen from the air around them were sucked directly into their nostrils. With every exhale, out came many pieces of salt water taffy, still in the wrapper.
Not having eaten in some time, Carol grew extremely hungry from the sight of the taffy, wanting to eat some. Taking a piece off the ground, Carol unwrapped a piece and ate it, temporarily satisfying her needs of hunger. Feeling the taffy fall down her throat, working its way to her gullet, the taffy hit the bottom of her stomach, beginning to dissolve in the acids accumulating within.
As the taffy began to break down in her stomach, however, something strange and odd began to happen to her. Feeling the world around her start to shake and fizzle out, as if a TV signal was being lost, Carol began to feel more in touch with the world, with her pores becoming as if they were the soil beneath her aborbing the tears of the sky.
A third eye began to grow in the middle of her forehead, and it rolled itself at the thoughts that were in her head, as if it were annoyed from her insecurities. When the world finally ended, there was nothing but a blank state of sky; stars were scattered about, distant planets were orbiting their suns, and there was naught here but Carol that lived, that truly, truly lived.
With her body changing in this strange space, her clothes began to tear away, revealing the placid skin underneath. Her body was like that of a statue's; no mouth, no iris, no genitals, no nipples; no weaknesses of morality and mortality. She existed as only a self, a self that needed reflection, reflection in a place where there is nowhere to reflect. While Carol could sense everything that existed in this universe, the universe being her, of course; there was no way to know what laid in the body of the universe, her own body. She had achieved complete awareness, but had not.
Now, her color is blue.
So many planets to visit in this universe, one was bound to have the answers she was looking for. Exploring the one that had the most cartilage, Carol stepped onto it, nearly crushing it with her foot. Remembering that she was just too big to walk on a planet, Carol changed to a smaller size, so she wouldn't accidentally crush anyone that she may or may not like. Now able to enjoy the planet as she was intended to, Carol explored the conditional planet, looking for a sign, and maybe a sign for that sign, or at least just a sign while she looked.
Exploring the slightly-crushed planet, Carol continued to look around for any significance of why she chose this planet, why it meant something to her. A whole universe full of planets and stars that were all her, why does this one mean something? Not knowing the answer, Carol continued to explore further.
As she continued her search, many passing aliens watched her, observing her every move. None seemed to be too upset that she had accidentally stepped on their planet, but none were particularly excited to see her, either. Rather, they all seemed to be observing her as if she was some kind of large animal treading their ground.
The aliens of this world had various shapes, sizes, and colors; one was a collection of spider webs in the body of a banana, another was a mirror showing various elderly people dancing in an auto repair shop within all while the mirror rested on a wheelchair, another was a walrus growing piccolos as tusks while wearing a sheet of newspaper over its eyes, another was a sentient door that seemed to exist for no apparent reason, and numerous other strange and impossible beings existed on this planet.
Wanting more information on this planet, Carol approached one of these aliens, a block of cheese that ate green salamanders to absorb their light. Tapping the cheese block on its shoulder, Carol inquired for information. While not able to speak with her mouth being absent, the cheese understood her request perfectly.
The aliens of the planet, joining together helping Carol to reach the understanding she required, all telepathically explained to her the truth, or at least the truth that made the most sense to each of them. Feeling their voices all beat down on her, Carol's mind began to rush in a frenzy with all the information being given to her, wanting more and more as it all flooded her mind.
"The apple and the clock are the orgasm of the heavens. No rock has ever been good-looking." A pillow filled with sauerkraut said.
"Rubber is blubber and blubber is rubber. The scanners love to inhale lots of paprika." A tuna with curly pink hair said.
"Paper is quite frankly obnoxious. Turkeys can make the softest cloth if they were just a little more rotten." A strip of duct tape holding a collection of dead butterflies said.
Underneath all the insane ramblings of the aliens, Carol began to understand some slivers of truth underneath the rants, piecing together each portion until she was able to reach some form of understanding. While not able to articulate what she had learned, Carol knew she had indeed learned. With the knowledge now being planted in her head, she began to change from her godlike self back into her old body, back the way she remembered, down to every folicle of hair to the clothes on her back.
The universe around her ended in one swift motion, now leaving her somewhere else. Her enviornment completely shifted around her, turning into a small lake, leaving Carol just on the edge of it. Taking a moment to adjust herself to her new surroundings, Carol took a deep breath, letting it out, allowing herself to contemplate her learned knowledge.
Now, her color is violet.
Wandering around this small lake, Carol took notice of two fairies residing over the lake, both standing face-to-face over the small body of water. One fairy was male, strongly built and towering, the other was female, short and curvy. The male fairy looked down upon the female fairy below him, as if he were looking at his next meal. The female fairy grew nervous, understanding the male fairy's true intentions, trying to retreat.
The male fairy did not allow the female fairy a simple retreat, viciously grabbing her arm and pulling him back towards her. The female fairy tried to throw a punch with her other arm, but the male fairy grabbed her other arm as well, forcing her against the water below.
Carol recognized the situation at hand, seeing that the female fairy was in danger. She tried to call out for the male fairy to stop, attempting to plead and reason for him to stop his violence, but no words nor sound came out of her mouth, leaving her pleas unheard. Unable to help the female fairy, Carol was left only able to watch as the violence continued.
Now, her color is red.
Feeling weak and powerless to stop the violence unfolding before her eyes, Carol was left red and angry at the act unfolding before her, unable to do anything to stop what was unfolding before her eyes. Not knowing what to do, she continued to stay in her place, her thoughts of anger overtaking all that she had learned.
Without the knowledge she had learned, accomplishing her task of stopping the male fairy's act and escaping the lake would not be possible, but she may not know that in time.
CARLOS
The young comic book fanatic named Carlos was the most artistic of the lot, with the potential to become even more creative and talented than Rudy Tabootie himself. With so much potential just waiting to be tapped into with each passing year of his growth, a career with art seemed to be imminent, and his future in life being bright and prosperous ahead.
However, being an Autistic child, he is not without his deficits. While he does have amazing abilities with his artistic skills, he places more emphasis on his art and his comic books, and he does not place much emphasis on others. He may love and care for his family, but other people were never the most important thing to him. Not because he hated others or had any ill wishes for the human race, but he simply was not comfortable around others.
Where many people prefer to speak their own language, talking about many mundane things that he never gave a second thought about, or never thinking about things that he thinks about all the time, Carlos speaks his own, through mediums of pictures and actions; through the world of comic books. Through the pages of tales of horror, high fantasy, martial arts, and science fiction, Carlos has found his own understanding of the world, and an understanding on his own likes and desires. But a comic book can only provide so much insight; there is more to learn through the lives of others.
One life in particular was meant to provide him with insight, love, and guidance was his father's, the man Penelope had married in Rudy's supposed time of death. While Penelope did give her all to provide both her children with love and support, especially the young Carlos, but the love of only one parent is not always enough for a child. For such a young boy that needed a lot of love, only receiving half of what he needed began to make him feel empty inside. Unable to find what he sought out with others, Carlos did the only thing he knew how to do: delve into his own special interests in order to fill the gap.
Children are an innocent crop; they have no understandings of complex emotions, ones such as hate, regret, discrimination, or many negative emotions. They only understand love, and its absence. Imagine being a child who had a father who wanted nothing to do with you, not just because of who you were, but because of what you are. Even with Penelope trying to explain how that was not the case, trying to say it was her that his father wished to leave from, there was still an absence of a second parental figure in his life, and there still was that sliver of hatred that the father shared for his son.
With all of these thoughts in his mind, all playing through at various, random orders through his neurodivergent mind, Carlos continued through the labyrinths of Chalklantis, moving his way through to where he was being led to. Having his chalk lined up on his bandolier, Carlos was ready to fend off any threat that came his way.
After anxiously waiting for trouble to come his way, all his alertness seeming to be for nothing, Carlos pulled out his MP3 player, wishing to pass the time by listening to his music. Upon putting in his earbuds and browsing through his music list, however, something finally began to happen, taking his attention away from the screen.
A light seeming to come from nowhere beamed upon his MP3 player's screen; a seemingly impossible event in a dark labyrinth. Looking up to see the origin of the light, Carlos saw that he was no longer in the labyrinths, but instead in a large city, surrounded by various people, all seeming to stare at him. Not used to so much attention by others, Carlos tried to face away from the onlookers, trying to retreat to his music to sooth him.
Upon trying to play his music, however, rather than hearing the selected song play, a message from a strange voice came from his earbuds, beginning to cause him to panic. The messages all spouted various messages and platitudes of love and acceptance, as if they came from greeting cards addressed from a father to a son.
"You really are the best thing that's happened in my life. I couldn't have asked for a better son than you." The track said.
Carlos skipped the track to select a new song, hoping to find that the message was some sort of fluke. Within the start of the next track, however, Carlos quickly discovered that this was not the case, as another message played.
"Children show you what's really important in life. I can't imagine looking at my life again without you, son." The next track said.
Carlos continued skipping through various songs on his MP3 player, continuing to hope that at least one song on his MP3 player would remain untouched from the effects of the place he was in. Despite skipping through numerous tracks upon tracks, none of the songs that he loved were there anymore.
"My life's been so much fun ever since you've come into my life, son." The next track said.
"I knew from the moment I saw you that you were just the most beautiful, bouncing baby boy that I could've gotten." The following track said.
"I love you, son." The succeeding track said.
Unable to take any more of the messages through his MP3 player, Carlos took his earbuds and placed them away, taking the battery out of his MP3 player to stop the messages. Feeling every word of the messages haunting his mind, the continuous looks of the people around him continued to raise his anxiety, causing him to move faster through the city.
Where the onlookers staring at Carlos were only observing him before, they began to all approach him, beginning to surround him. Within mere minutes, Carlos became surrounded by the numerous citizens, unable to move. Thinking that these people would attack him or harm him in some way, Carlos drew a piece of chalk from his bandolier, holding it out in a threatening motion.
Holding his chalk in one hand while furiously shaking the other in a desperate attempt to stim out his fear, Carlos continued to hold his ground against the various people, expecting some sort of attack directed towards him. However, even though the crowd all surrounded him and did not appear to be preventing his escape, none of the people seemed hostile or try to attack him. Instead, they all seemed to give him pitying looks.
Finally, one person emerged from the crowd, confronting Carlos. This person was a young girl, about Carlos' age, stepping towards him. While Carlos was still holding his ground against the crowd, threatening to use his chalk against them, he could not bring himself to use it on the girl, as she seemed far too young to pose any sort of threat.
Upon reaching Carlos, the young girl jumped up and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms tightly around him. While the girl was obviously not harming him nor trying to pose any threat, Carlos grew afraid and scared, trying to break free of the girl's hug. Despite his struggles to get free, the girl not only did not let go, but continued to maintain her hold on him.
"I love you just the way you are." The girl said.
As the girl spoke her words, the other members of the crowd began to close in on him, all joining in her hug, all warmly embracing Carlos. Growing anxious and fearful of what was happening, unable to control the situation he was in, Carlos began to grow even more and more fearful, trying to break free of the crowd.
Desperately screaming and crying for an escape, Carlos continued to struggle against the hugging crowd. The crowd continued to not let up, all continuing to embrace Carlos, now all chanting the young girl's words.
"I love you just the way you are." The crowd chanted.
Still holding the chalk in his hand, Carlos desperately tried to draw some sort of tool or device to allow him a quick escape, frantically moving his hand back and forth. Despite his best efforts to draw something, his drawings only came out to be various scratches and scribbles, nothing good enough to rescue him. Trying his best to think of whatever he could create, the idea of a miniature rocket came to his head, driving him to draw it.
Before he could move his chalk to draw anything, however, the chalk itself miraculously changed into the miniature rocket as Carlos had pictured it in his head, beginning to blast off into the sky. While he had absolutely no idea how the chalk changed into the object into his head within that instant, Carlos had no time to question the miracle, only having enough time to hold on as he was blasted off straight into the sky.
With the rocket in his hand safely launching him into the sky, Carlos finally broke free from the affectionate mob, reaching the high point of the sky where he found safety. As the stress of being free finally relieved itself from him, however, the rocket in Carlos' hand turned back into his stick of chalk, putting a swift end to his ascension.
Acting quickly with the chalk back in his hand, Carlos drew a circle directly below himself, creating a surface to stand on before the pull of gravity could pull him back down. With the platform leaving him in the sky without anyone to try to give him any unwanted affection again, Carlos gave out a sigh of relief, leaning back on the platform and closing his eyes to sooth his anxieties before continuing on.
"I love you just the way you are." A voice said.
Upon hearing that familiar voice again, Carlos' eyes shot open, revealing that the young girl who started the hugging mob's approach on Carlos had reappeared. Looking down from his platform, Carlos viewed that a giant stairway had somehow erected itself right next to his platform, with the mob all climbing up it to get another chance to hug him again.
Quickly seeking a way to escape the mob again, Carlos leaped off the platform, beginning to freefall straight to the ground. While skydiving in the air, Carlos drew a pair of rocket boots on his feet, giving himself the ability to fly. Now back in the sky and safe from the large crowd of huggers, Carlos again sighed in relief, finally free of the mob.
Just as he had opened his eyes upon letting out his sigh, however, his eyes had revealed that either he had somehow been placed back on the ground level of the city, or the city had raised to his level. Either way, Carlos again found himself face-to-face with the mob of huggers, proving that he was not able to permanently escape from the crowd, with the young girl continuing to lead the crowd.
"I love you just the way you are." The girl said.
While Carlos knew that he could not escape the crowd indefinitely, he knew he was at least able to move away from it for a short period of time. With the approaching crowd continuing to fuel his anxieties, Carlos used his rocket boots to flee from the crowd again, rocketing down the street to seek shelter.
Blasting past numerous citizens, all trying to continue hugging the frightened child, Carlos continued to flee from the mob, hoping that he would eventually find an exit to this city and find some safety. While continuing his flight across the city, Carlos unexpectedly met his exit, crashing directly face-first into it, subsequently falling to the ground.
Upon looking up to see what he had just crashed into, Carlos noticed a large glass wall standing before him, appearing to be the exit from the city. While this fact alone made this wall significant to Carlos, what made it more significant was what laid behind the wall.
"Carlos?" A voice asked.
Behind the wall was his father. While the shadows of the area behind the wall did not reveal his face, Carlos instantly recognized the figure and its voice as his father. While the sight of his father was enough to take his focus off the mob, Carlos' conflicted feelings towards his father began to arise, leaving him to try to sort them all out.
"I know you're mad at me, Carlos. You have every right to be. I haven't been very good to you, I know that. But I'm here now, and I want to make things right. Please believe me." His father said.
While many adults would approach similar words with skepticism and perhaps even disbelief, Carlos was still too young to harbor any such emotions, beginning to innocently believe the words of his father. With his father's words convincing Carlos that he was speaking the truth, Carlos began to listen more carefully to his father's words, eager to hear what he would say next.
"I know all those people are scaring you. I can protect you from them. Please, come here. Stay with me." His father said.
Not knowing how, Carlos inquired how to do so. His father promptly answered by pointing to a cutout of a human body in the glass, giving Carlos a way through.
"Through here. Hurry." His father said.
Following his father's request, Carlos began to step through the glass, ready to reach his father on the other side. Upon trying to step through, however, he quickly discovered that something was blocking his way through.
Stepping back outside the glass again, Carlos noticed that although the cutout did bear his shape, it was missing a hand. More specifically, it was missing his right hand. Knowing that there was only one way to reach the other side of the glass, Carlos began to carefully contemplate how to reach the other side.
Behind him, the mass footsteps of the mob began to approach him yet again, leaving his next choice to be even more important that he had known. The only way to escape the crowd was to go through the glass, and the only way to do that would be to remove his right hand.
"I love you just the way you are." The crowd chanted.
Growing desperate with the crowd continuing to approach, Carlos grabbed his right hand, removing it by pulling it off, as if it were a piece of an action figure. While the action was extremely painful, Carlos discarded the hand and stepped through the glass, managing to flee the crowd just before they could reach him. Now safely behind the glass, Carlos believed himself to be safe from the mob; the cost of his hand being an acceptable price to pay.
However, upon stepping through the glass, Carlos took notice of two particular facts, neither of which were very helpful to the situation at hand. Firstly, his father was not on the other side, but through what appeared to be another pane of glass, something he did not notice previously. Second, the crowd had began making its way through the previous wall of glass, already beginning to land numerous cracks in the glass.
On the pane of glass in front of him, Carlos took notice of another cutout, this time missing his lower arm. With the crowd beginning to make its way back towards him, the next thing to do seemed obvious, albeit undesirable.
"Come on, Carlos. You can do it. I know you can." His father said.
Needing his way towards his father and a way to escape the mob, Carlos removed his lower arm, again putting himself through pain to reach his goal. Stepping through the next pane of glass, Carlos again met with another pan of glass, this time with its cutout missing his upper arm, with the mob continuing to move through the next pane of glass behind him.
"You're almost there, Carlos. Keep going." His father said.
Continuing this vicious cycle, Carlos removed his upper arm, pushing himself on through pane after pane of glass, continuing to lose piece after piece of himself, all trying to appease his father and escape the crowd.
PENELOPE
Penelope Sanchez, also known by her nickname 'Penny', led a very eventful and sad life during her childhood, changing into a life of confusion and uncertainty in her adulthood. During the days of her childhood, things seemed to be fairly easy, albeit unorthodox for many children her age. Upon moving into the town of Plainsville, Penelope had quickly made friends with a boy named Rudy Tabootie. He loved art and all things strange, but she loved science and all things rational.
On paper, while neither of them had any friends prior to each other, the two seemed to be a mismatch of friends, perhaps incapable of getting along. Alas, this was not the case. Within a period of only days of meeting each other, Rudy and Penelope became the absolute best of friends, all thanks to a place called ChalkZone. Rudy had discovered the realm of ChalkZone at the young age of 8, and had been continuing his various and strange adventures for many years to come, with Penelope joining his adventures at age 10.
While the pair had shared many adventures in their lives before, there was one particular adventure that they had yet to share: A life together. Spending a good 3 years almost nonstop together, working together to help solve the various problems of ChalkZone as best friends, a step further in their relationship seemed not only inevitable, but only perfect for the two. After a sinister plot conceived by the combined forces of Skrawl and the Chalk King, however, that shared future quickly came to a stop. Presuming Rudy dead and left unable to return to ChalkZone, Penelope hit a large roadblock on her path to womanhood.
Spending nearly a year within a mental asylum, finally being convinced that ChalkZone was not real, Penelope was eventually released to try to spend the next part of her teenage years in peace, acting under the guidance of Dr. Lopez, her therapist. Feeling the ghost of Rudy Tabootie lingering over her, high school was not a fun, fulfilling experience for the young Penelope, but a slow, churning movement through pain and misery. Facing depression and emptiness in her life, Penelope mainly stuck to her studies, never speaking to others, and others thinking of Penelope as emotionally damaged, perhaps even guilty of murdering Rudy. Penelope paid no mind to these rumors and theories, continuing to place her efforts on the sciences, hoping to propel herself into a career into science as she always wanted.
Despite her best efforts, however, none of Penelope's efforts were enough to rid herself of the ghost of Rudy Tabootie. With her depression blocking her short of the sheer brilliance she could have achieved, nothing seemed to fill the gap in her life. Many teenagers her age would turn to crime, sex, drugs, or other harmful outlets, but Penelope knew better than to indulge in dangerous or self-harming behavior. Rather, her attempt to fill the gap in her heart came in the form of a man.
Trying again to rid herself of the ghost of Rudy Tabootie, Penelope tried to find a partner, needing to find someone to support her through the problems she had faced. Despite various declines to her offers, Penelope never gave up her search, and her search was finally answered with the acceptance of one man. The one who accepted Penelope's offer seemed to be a nice man, comforting her in her times of need and showering her with gifts and affection, so keeping the relationship seemed to be a move for the best.
After graduation and just beginning college, the two had married, and had their first child, Carolina, arrive within a year. With Carlos joining the family within the next year, their life had a rough beginning in between juggling their careers and their children, but, in the end, the two managed to graduate with their degrees, receive good jobs, and provide a good home and environment for their children. For the while, all seemed to be well for Penelope and her family.
As beautiful and as great as her life seemed to be, her happiness did not last. Despite having a loving husband and two bright children in her life, the ghost of Rudy Tabootie would still not leave her, continuing to haunt her throughout the years. Before, her husband was supportive of this loss, trying his best to help her work through her pain. With each passing year, however, that support and love began to slowly dwindle and fade, with her husband becoming more and more jaded to her needs.
Finally, with the stress of his own job and one of his children being Autistic, his tolerance for Penelope's loss died out completely, and all his love for his family with it. Following a swift divorce, practically handing over the children to Penelope without a fight, her former husband moved on, leaving her life forever and leaving her completely alone, with two children to tend to. Once again, Penelope had no one else to lean on, and was alone yet again.
After accepting help from Rudy's father, buying his house and moving back to Plainville, a fresh start seemed to be right around the corner for Penelope, and well-needed for a soul as troubled as hers. With her children finding a magic piece of chalk and discovering the magical realm of ChalkZone, subsequently finding the presumably dead Rudy Tabootie, and getting the now group of four embarking on a quest to find the Golden Chalk, all promise of a fresh start immediately came to a screeching halt.
In the beginning of their quest, Rudy and Penelope seemed to be at instant odds with each other, leaving the two former best friends quickly becoming enemies. Once Rudy had begrudgingly shared the times of his days in ChalkZone by himself, Penelope's perspective of Rudy began to change. Where she previously thought that his time alone had turned him into a vicious brute, she began to understand that he was truly just lost from his own pain of isolation, and loss of his ability to draw.
For most of the trip, she tried her very best to try to bring him back to his old self, doing what she could to help him work past the pain, but her best efforts proved to be futile. It seemed that the person that she loved was long gone, and would not ever come back. After the two had taken an accidental swim in the Wait 'N Sea, a body of water with the ability to regress the mind of an adult back into that of a child's, they had found themselves again, the impossible had happened.
The two had not only become best friends again, but had finally progressed their relationship one step further. Now, the two had began their lives as one together, just as they had planned to do so 15 years ago. After a decade and a half of misery, it seems that Penelope has finally found the peace she was looking for.
At least, as far as she knows.
Moving through the brick walls of Chalklantis' Labyrinths, Penelope carefully watches her step, not knowing what would come for her in these strange tunnels. Without anyone to lean on, Penelope was once again alone, needing to rely on herself to move through this strange labyrinth. Hearing various echoes throughout the hallways bounce through the walls, the feeling of isolation in a hostile environment was beginning to take its toll on Penelope's mind; the lack of support slowly taking away her ability to rationalize.
While this process of demoralization began to fester its way through her mind, the strange noises in this hallway continued throughout the area, leaving Penelope growing more and more anxious with whatever would come after her. Even in the old days, Penelope never had much ability to defend herself from the various threats of ChalkZone, especially not now after facing Beanie Boys invading her home, vampires attacking her from entering the wrong bar, being stripped by the Greedy Trees, and attacked by the chalk clone of an infamous supervillain.
"Prey." A voice said.
As the raspy, hungry voice made its way through the halls, Penelope immediately hugged the wall, trying to conceal herself from whatever may have made the noise. With her breath frantically pumping in and out of her lungs, the loud inhales and exhales she took did little to help her concealment, seeming to further encourage the voices in the hallway.
"Powerless." A voice said.
"Victim." A different voice said.
Knowing that her efforts to stay concealed were not helping her, Penelope began to run as fast as she could, trying to hopefully escape the dangerous and hungry voices that threatened her. With every ounce of energy being spent towards getting away from the hungry and vicious voices promising to harm her, Penelope now had lost all sense of rationalization and thought; her only concern being to remove herself from the voices as fast as she possibly could.
Upon having her foot come into contact with a small stone on the ground, her flight from the voices came to a temporary stop, sending her falling to the ground. Quickly picking herself up from the ground again, Penelope could continue to hear the voices keep up their threats, all unanimously wanting to harm her.
"Weak." A voice said.
"Pathetic." Another voice said.
Being reminded of every moment of weakness she had faced during her life and the quest, Penelope began to grow less and less capable of continuing on, her legs beginning to grow weak. As her legs began to give out under sheer stress and fear, Penelope fell back onto the ground, crawling back away from the voices. With nothing to defend herself and her own method of escaping the voices beginning to fail, escape for Penelope seemed to be unachievable, sealing her fate to the threatening voices.
Or, at least, so it seemed to be at first. Upon crawling against a strange object in the labyrinth, Penelope instantly froze in fear, believing herself to have stumbled upon one of her attackers. Despite every fiber in her being telling her not to dare look towards what she had stumbled upon, Penelope did so anyway, facing the inevitable as it laid.
To her surprise, the object she had stumbled upon was not one of the attacking voices, but another human being. While the question of where this human being could have come from or why he was here was a strange question to ponder, there was no time to ponder this thought; only time enough to seek help from this man.
Rising to her feet once more, Penelope tightly held onto the strange man, hoping to find some shelter in his arms. Finally able to stand on her two feet once again with the help of this stranger, Penelope shared her thanks with this man, grateful that he would come to save her from the evil voices threatening to harm her.
Upon looking at who this man was, Penelope recognized this man as the very first boy she had asked out in high school, only for him to turn her down. While she somehow recognized this man as her first love interest since Rudy, she had long forgotten his name; the identity of this man never being important to her.
Just as quickly as Penelope recognized this man, the image of the man quickly faded into nothing; leaving her alone again. With no one to stand on, Penelope quickly fell back to the ground, the numbness in her legs returning. No longer able to stand up again, Penelope began to return to her frantic crawling, hoping to find shelter against the voices.
"Nothing." One voice said.
"Insignificant." Another voice said.
As Penelope continued her flight from the voices, the raspy echoes growing closer and closer with each move she made, driving her further on her trials for survival. With no one to help her in this strange, dark tunnel, she was no doubt doomed to fall fate to the voices here; her coming fate seeming to be imminent.
At least, not until she had found someone else again in this hallway. Looking up to this next stranger, Penelope recognized this stranger as another person she once attempted to court; a higher member of the debate team of her school. Obviously, that fling never became anything substantial.
Having no time to question his sudden presence in this place, Penelope began to climb up this person as well, needing to be back on her feet again. Just like before, however, the image of the young man began to crumble and fade as well, leaving Penelope to fall back on the floor again.
"Worthless." A voice said.
"Miserable." Another voice said.
With the voices beginning to pursue her yet again, Penelope continued to crawl on, hoping to find some sort of shelter from the threatening voices. As the two would-be rescuers had abruptly left her so suddenly and bizarrely, her hope began to decrease with each step she took, leading her to believe that she would not be leaving this place alive.
Before she could move on any further, Penelope stopped before yet another figure, and another one she had previously tried to date in the absence of Rudy. This person, last she remembered, was a social studies student Penelope once asked out, again, only to be turned down. Penelope began to reach out for this person, but, upon remembering what had happened on the last two attempts, had stopped herself just before she could do so.
Despite not touching this individual, this person faded away anyway, again leaving Penelope defenseless against the voices. However, resting adjacent from where he once stood was another of Penelope's past potential suitors, also inexplicably appearing in this place. Just as Penelope reached out for him, however, he began to fade away just as well.
Throughout the dark tunnel, many people Penelope had once propositioned were all standing before her, like some sort of gallery of failed relationships. One by one, each would-be suitor all faded away, each loss reminding her that she was alone against the voices, and unable to be brought back to her feet with any support. With each loss adding, Penelope's hope began to reduce even further, leaving her with almost nothing to hold onto.
Finally, the gallery was brought down to just two people, only one of which was in view. This first person in view was Penelope's former husband, standing before her and looking straight at her. Unlike the others, not only did he not instantaneously disappear, but he even offered to help Penelope up.
Despite the history that she had with her former husband, the last note which the two had shared being a divorce, the decision to accept his hand was a very difficult one to make. With the voices continuing their approach, however, the choice was not quite that difficult; the sense of desperation driving her decision to be made more drastically.
Accepting her former husband's hand, Penelope began to step on her two feet once again; at last being able to stand up. Now having help from another person, Penelope continued through the hallway with her former husband, hoping to finally reach the end of the labyrinth she was in. Having progressed further with him than she had with the others, Penelope's hopes for escape began to rise again, giving her more strength to move on.
But that strength did not last long. Just as the other former suitors of Penelope had done, her former husband began to fade away just as well, leaving her defenseless yet again. Without anyone to support her in her escape, Penelope stumbled and fell back to the ground with only a few steps on her own; resorting back to crawling yet again.
"Pitiful." A voice said.
"Feeble." Another voice said.
With her last hopes from escaping disappearing along with her would-be rescuer, Penelope began to fearfully back against a wall, cowering away from the voices as they continued their approach. No longer able to keep on moving, Penelope found herself at the end of her flight, not having the strength to move away from the voices.
Her last hopes were dwindling to nothing, but they had one last streak of light. Stepping in from the shadows was Rudy Tabootie, seemingly back to rescue her. With his stick of chalk resting in his hand, Rudy prepared to face against the voices, giving Penelope hope once again. After being helped off the floor, Penelope safely rested in Rudy's arms, standing on her feet once again.
However, before Rudy could move his hand to draw anything, he too began to fade away into nothingness, putting Penelope now in a state of panic. Out of all the losses she had suffered in this place, Rudy was the one she could not afford to lose, and she refused to do so. Grabbing onto whatever remained of Rudy Tabootie, Penelope tried her best to hold onto him before he could disappear as well, hoping that this time she would be successful.
Despite her strong efforts to hold Rudy Tabootie together, they were not enough to contain his crumbling body; his form beginning to reduce down to nothingness just as the others did. Again, without any support to stand on her own, Penelope fell back to the ground, unable to do anything to fight back against the voices.
"Helpless." A voice said.
"Frail." Another voice said.
Where she had previously cowered against the wall, hoping in vain that the voices would leave her be, Penelope now no longer fought back anymore. With all hope in her being completely gone, just as her would-be rescuers were, Penelope no longer had the strength to fight back. No longer having the energy to do anything else, Penelope leaned against the wall in silence, going completely numb from head to toe in fear.
"Soon to perish." A voice said.
"Gonna die soon." Another voice said.
RUDY
Having spent numerous years of his life in the vast and strange world of ChalkZone, Rudy Tabootie has led perhaps one of the most strange and bizarre lives out of all human beings on Earth. Whether that is a privilege or a blessing is to be interpreted later in history. Since he was but a young boy, growing up in the quiet town of Plainsville, Minnesota, Rudy loved art and all its potential. Where many people around him were only interested in whatever made sense, preferring science and reason, Rudy loved all things strange and abstract. To him, imagination was the most essential part of a mind, and wanted nothing more than to use it to create the most strange, bizarre, and impossible stories that he could concoct; to make real what never could be real, to see what never could be seen. As the human race lived on planet Earth, Rudy lived within a chalkboard.
At the age of 8, while serving out a wrongful sentence of detention, Rudy had discovered a piece of magic chalk, holding the power to reach a strange world called ChalkZone, a place where anything erased on a chalkboard comes to life. After defeating a caricature of a school bully with his most famous creation, Snap, it seemed his life had instantly changed forever. In a place where art is a tool in which the artist can alter reality itself as they see fit, ChalkZone seemed like the most perfect place for Rudy Tabootie to be, and indeed it was. For the next 2 years of his life, Rudy had all but abandoned his life in the real world, choosing to instead spend it in ChalkZone, adventuring with his creation and best friend Snap.
For those 2 years, the idea of friends was an alien concept to Rudy; for having the realm of ChalkZone easily accessible made going outside seem to be obsolete to him. However, this all changed with the introduction with a young girl named Penny Sanchez. Where he was an artist and lover of all things strange and abstract, Penny was focused on science and reason. Despite the opposing interests between the two, they both instantly became best friends, Rudy no longer spending his time in ChalkZone alone.
Over the years, their friendship had grown stronger than either had imagined. With most of their time spent together in ChalkZone, barely spending time with others, it seemed that the two never spent a moment away from each other. Underlying that friendship was a sense of puppy love; something neither would acknowledge, but both knew was there. Despite a few flirts and compliments towards each other on a few occasions, neither had taken these any further, as both were far too young to fully articulate or reciprocate those emotions.
Just a day before Rudy's 13th birthday, however, Penelope took the initiative to address those emotions, and to take them one step further. Before her proposition could move anywhere, however, tragedy struck when the duo were unexpectedly betrayed by Snap, putting Rudy at Skrawl's mercy. With his arms broken and Penelope banished from ChalkZone, leaving Rudy completely helpless, his life suddenly took a turn for the absolute worst.
Suffering an unknown number of years of torture under Skrawl and the mysterious Chalk King, Rudy had lost all his ability to draw again, trading in craftiness and creativity for strength and brute force. While his body grew in size and strength, his body having a more toned and muscular shape, he could no longer draw; no longer able to use his artistic talents as he once did. After escaping from Castle Chalkenstein, the base of operations for Skrawl and the Chalk King, Rudy escaped to live in the wild areas of ChalkZone, where the forces of the evil duo would not dare search for him. Surviving on his own, living in various places like the forest of the Toilet Trees and the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle, Rudy began to live like an animal; only concerned with surviving to the next day, not concerning himself with anything else.
After being rescued by the young children of Penelope, the life he used to live finally caught up to him, now being brought back to the real world. Having become such a barbarian of a man due to his time alone, he was rude and cruel to the people who had rescued him, not able to access his emotions again. Despite numerous attempts made by Penelope herself to reawaken them, none of her attempts worked; only surmounting in Rudy verbally abusing her out of fear of what she would uncover.
Following an accidental swim in the Wait 'N Sea, Rudy was regressed back into the mind of his previous, young self, and quickly returned back to his rude self shortly afterwards. With his emotions now out of control and unable to be suppressed once again, Rudy was unable to find a grip on what was and what was not himself, being left confused on his own sense of identity. The Zoner known as Queenie Beanie found him in his confused state, offering him help to work through his problems, and had helped him find his ability to draw once again. With the help of what he believed to be a former enemy, Rudy Tabootie was once again whole and complete.
Now, with Penelope back at his side, their friendship not only rekindled, but progressed further; he continues the quest for the Golden Chalk, with a newfound purpose for finishing the quest. Moving through the labyrinths of Chalklantis, Rudy reaches the end of the goal that he has set for himself, ready to claim the Golden Chalk and help Calcite defeat the Chalk King, freeing ChalkZone from his tyrannical rule.
Having faced many strange creatures and beings throughout ChalkZone, Rudy was mostly prepared for whatever would come his way, keeping his chalk in hand for any coming threats that may try to strike him. Moving down the labyrinths of Chalklantis, the idea of coming threats seemed to be an unlikely concept; nothing seemed to be down this hallway except for him. For once during the entire quest he had embarked on, Rudy had found himself alone and not threatened by anything in the vicinity. If not for the sliver of paranoia in his mind, the solitude would be somewhat calming to Rudy.
With a streak of light coming into the tunnels of the labyrinth, Rudy found that he had finally reached a new destination. Standing before him was what appeared to be 'Open' Mike's Pub, somehow having made its way into the labyrinths of ChalkZone. Remembering that this was not the 'real' pub, Rudy dismissed the strange notion of it appearing here, realizing that it was some kind of trick set up by the Golden Chalk.
Having nowhere else to go but in the bar, Rudy stepped in the bar. Upon opening the door to the pub, a large gust of wind blew against him, violently brushing against his jacket and hair. Forcing himself against the wind, Rudy stepped inside 'Open' Mike's Pub, ready for whatever he may encounter inside the karaoke bar.
Stepping inside 'Open' Mike's Pub, Rudy was immediately met an uncomfortable silence from the empty stage, something very out of place within a karaoke bar. More out of place than the silence was the patrons of the bar itself; no two patrons looking the same. The patrons ramged from an iguana in drag, a lobster wearing a tuxedo and Hawaiian shorts, a tube sock filled with crumpled newspapers, a bag of sweet chili chips wearing a fake beard and a pair of sunglasses, a mop dressed in leg warmers, an apple carved into the shape of a toothbrush, and a towel with nails through it, just to name a few.
The numerous patrons all sneered at Rudy, as if making their own threatening plans to do harm upon him. Having the chalk in his hand, Rudy held up his arm, displaying the chalk for the lot to see. While immediately recognizing the gesture as a threat, the patrons were not without their own countermeasures. A disembodied ear extended a limb made of earwax out of itself, forming into a muscular arm, a chewed piece of fruit gum turned into a claymore sword, who was quickly picked up by a snickerdoodle wearing a cowboy hat and a bow tie, and a small family of fingernail clippers all rallied up to fight against Rudy.
Backing down on his own threat, Rudy slowly lowered his arm, no longer taking the offensive to a threat as he did before. Thinking of a more clever solution to his problem, Rudy began to observe the area around him. He was in a karaoke bar, standing before many angry Zoners, but they had no apparent reason to be angry. The silence continued through the pub, beginning to sharply pierce into his mind, the sensory deprivation settling in.
It was then that it occurred to Rudy what the problem was. He was in a karaoke bar, but there was no music. The patrons were angry because there was no music. Realizing this fact, Rudy finally came up with a solution to the problem.
Taking the chalk in hand, Rudy began drawing his solution, making all the Zoners jump back in anticipation. Not wishing to cause a ruckus within the bar, Rudy slowed his drawing, easing the tension within the bar. When Rudy finished his sketch, the final product materialized in his hand: A small piece of paper.
What was on the paper was anyone's guess, but Rudy, having created it, knew very well what it was, and what he had to do with it. Crumpling the paper into a ball, Rudy tossed the ball of paper across the bar, sending it flying over the heads of the patrons. The many Zoners within the bar, having no idea as to what Rudy's plan was, all continued to anxiously watch as the paper continued its way across the pub.
Finally, the paper ball landed within the request bucket at the empty stage, uncrumpling as it fell in its place. One of the pub's employees, a jar of grape jelly wearing a miner's hat, picked up the paper, read it, and then proceeded to the music controls. Rudy's paper had been a request sheet, and the jar had placed in his request to the machine, selecting his song choice.
Preparing to preform his song for the patrons, Rudy drew over his own clothes a white suit and gangster's fedora; an appropriate choice for the selected song.
[Soundtrack Cue: Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (Extended Dance Mix)]
Author's Note: The next portion of this chapter uses lyrics from the aforementioned song: 'Smooth Criminal' from the album 'Bad' by Michael Jackson. The songwriting credits belong to Michael Jackson, and the distribution rights belong to Sony Music Entertainment through its ownership of Epic Records. No copyright infringement is intended.
As the music started, the entire pub immediately burst into a massive spree of dancing, each Zoner moving in coordination with Rudy. Mimicking the dance moves as they were made famous by the man who wrote them, Rudy led the entire group onto the dance floor, moving in synchronization as one coordinated effort. Where the group was once hostile and unfriendly towards Rudy Tabootie, the patrons swept all such notions against Rudy Tabootie aside, continuing to dance alongside him.
With the lyrics soon coming into the beat of the song, Rudy realized his need to reach the microphone, needing to continue the song. Making his way across the dance floor to the stage, Rudy found himself dancing alongside various sorts of Zoners, entertaining each of them in a game of music and dance. Doing a brief tango with a mango, a brief ballet spin with a voting ballot, and tap dancing with a water tap, among other types of dances, Rudy finally made his way up to the stage, holding the microphone in his hand.
"As he came into the window,
It was the sound of a crescendo,
He came into her apartment,
He left the bloodstains on the carpet,
She ran underneath the table,
He could see she was unable,
So she ran into the bedroom,
She was struck down, it was her doom..." Rudy sang.
Back to Carol's section of the labyrinth, the violence between the male and female fairies continued, with Carol herself unable to reason with the fairy to stop. No longer able to stand the act unfolding, Carol stopped trying to reason with the fairy and began to make a plan to head over and stop the violence herself. Looking across the lake they were laying on, Carol realized that she needed to get across somehow, but had no means of doing so.
Or, at least she wouldn't if this were the real world. This was ChalkZone, where anything goes. Testing an idea she had, Carol laid a single foot on the water, testing to see if she could walk over it. Sure enough, just as the fairies could lay across it, she could walk across it. With this new knowledge in mind, Carol walked back and grabbed a large branch from a nearby tree, preparing to end the violence once and for all.
Taking an abnormally large branch in her hand and approaching the two fairies, Carol readied herself for the chance to stop the violence once and for all. While the branch was easily twice her size, it seemed to weigh nothing in her hand, making it all the easier to carry around. Despite the weight being substantially low, Carol still somehow knew that it possessed enough mass to stop the male fairy.
Finally making her way up to the fairies, the male fairy turned to face Carol, watching her hold the large branch in her hand. Taking one mighty swing of the branch, Carol sent the attacking fairy flying away several miles away, saving the female fairy from her attacker. Extending her hand to the downed fairy, Carol offered to help the fairy back up again. Accepting her offer, the fairy stood back up again, having been rescued all thanks to Carol.
Now, her color is white.
Back in 'Open' Mike's Pub, Rudy continued on his song, moving on to the first chorus. By this time, every member of the pub was engrossed and involved in his performance, all caught up in the moment, not caring about anything else but the music. Just as the patrons were all caught up in the moment, Rudy found himself caught up just as well, only focused on the music and the dance that accompanied it, not wanting to stop.
"Annie, are you okay?
Will you tell us that you're okay?
There's a sign in the window,
That he struck you, a crescendo, Annie,
He came into your apartment,
Left the bloodstains on the carpet,
Then you ran into the bedroom,
You were struck down, it was your doom,
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie are you okay?
Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie are you okay?
Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie are you okay?
Are you okay Annie?
You've been hit by,
You've been hit by,
A smooth criminal..." Rudy sang.
Jumping off the stage with the microphone still in his hand, Rudy danced his way to a pool table, followed by his adoring crowd of Zoners. Taking a pool cue in his hand, Rudy shot the cue ball right to the billiard balls, breaking the triangle they were aligned in. With his one smooth, straight shot, Rudy managed to launch every solid ball into the holes of the pool table, instantly winning the game. Upon winning the game, Rudy spun the pool cue on the ground, bringing it to life.
As the pool cue came to life, growing its own limbs and consciousness, the pool cue challenged Rudy to a dance-off. Beginning the challenge with several moves of its own, making them all up on the spot, the pool cue seemed to take the lead from Rudy, gaining the applause of numerous Zoners. While the pool cue still had existed by a set of rules and restrictions, Rudy had none, and his potential moves were endless. Making his own first moves, Rudy started with a few simplistic but effective arm movements and slides, gaining a good start.
Moving onto the more impossible territory, Rudy moonwalked from one side of the pool room to the opposite, as if coming from one end of a TV screen and out the other, a toe-stand, an anti-gravity lean, and ended with an infamous crotch grab, but one that made his entire body stretch upward, making his legs appear longer and his body appear shorter. Upon letting go of himself, Rudy reverted back to his normal shape and form, gaining the praise and applause from the crowd of Zoners, declaring him the winner of the dance-off. Accepting his opponent's victory, the pool cue shook Rudy's hand, subsequently joining the crowd in dance.
With the next portion of lyrics imminently coming in, Rudy grasped his microphone tightly once again, ready to sing the next lyrics to the song.
"So they came into the outway,
It was Sunday, what a black day,
Mouth to mouth resuscitation,
Sounding heartbeats, intimidation..." Rudy sang.
Back to Carlos' section of the labyrinth, the young boy had reduced himself to only a head, the remainder of his body parts from the neck down abandoned behind him and left behind in an attempt to reach his father. Despite having sacrificed so much to reach his father, Carlos was still dedicated to reach him, willing to do whatever it took, a trait strong with Autistics in anything they deem important.
While having to move through so many barriers to reach his father, losing so many parts of himself, Carlos was certain that he had reached the last one. The only problem was that the last pane of glass had a cutout that would take away everything that he was. The last pane of glass had two small holes, large enough for his two eyeballs. While he would finally reach the other side of the glass, he would have lost absolutely everything that made him who and what he was; his brain, the most important part of him, would be gone, leaving nothing left.
Thinking carefully on his next choice, Carlos knew that this would be a final decision. If he sacrificed all that he was, he would finally be safe with his father. If he did not make the final sacrifice, he would be susceptible to the crowd still pursuing him, having already claimed most of him through his abandoned body parts.
"Come on, son. Just one more. I know you can do this. I know you can be better. Please, come to me, come to daddy." His father said.
Upon this time, Carlos had finally realized what the plan of his father was. Looking through the glass, Carlos saw a small robot with a two sockets in its head, meant to house eyeballs. He wanted him to shed all that he was, to strip him away to his bare core, all so he could have a son that fit what he desired; sacrificing Carlos' wants, needs, and desires for his own.
Stubborn as Carlos was, he refused his father's proposal, wanting to hold onto whatever he had left of himself. With his speech collar gone from his neck being left behind on his chest, Carlos chose to speak his dissent the old-fashioned way.
"No." Carlos said.
Rejecting his father's offer of safety, Carlos turned away from the cruel man, instead facing the mob of people that continued their way towards him. As they prepared to make their way through the last pane of glass, the glass crackling and crumbling before him, Carlos closed his eyes, accepting whatever fate would become of him. After all, he's just a head now, how could things get worse?
"I love you just the way you are." The mob chanted.
As the glass broke and shattered, the mob all rushed straight for Carlos' head, picking it up off the ground. Rather than cause him any harm, the mob took his abandoned body parts and began placing them back in order, rebuilding Carlos back to his whole self. Opening his eyes upon being handled by the crowd, Carlos looked to see his body placed back to normal, his abandoned parts all back in place.
Once again, the young girl that started the mob approached Carlos yet again, standing before him for just a brief moment. With the moment quickly passing, the girl leaped to hug him, wrapping her arms around him in a manner of seconds.
"I love you just the way you are." The girl said.
Realizing that the girl and the mob were not threats, but friends, Carlos finally began to accept the girl's hug. Overcoming his anxieties from having the group place him back together again, Carlos' fears quickly became feelings of compassion and safety.
Returning these emotions to the girl that was giving those emotions, Carlos wrapped his arms around her, placing the two in a hug. The crowd, watching the two hug, all gave cheers and applause, happy to see Carlos finally accept the love of others.
Back at 'Open' Mike's Pub...
"You've been hit by,
You've been struck by,
A smooth criminal.." Rudy sang.
As Rudy entered the break of the song, Rudy again led the crowd in a synchronized dance, bringing all Zoners together in the moment, for no other purpose than for the music. Just as moths are hopelessly drawn to flame, Zoners are helplessly drawn to music, brought together by it in as one group of people; the more energetic, the better.
If 'Open' Mike's Pub was a circus, Rudy had no doubt become its ringleader. With the years of solitude he faced having no effect on his musical talents, his insatiable skills with music and dance quickly put the entire bar at his whim. Having his imagination and various emotions to express once again, ChalkZone felt less like a prison to him and more like a second home, just like it was when he was younger.
"Annie, are you okay?
Will you tell us that you're okay?
There's a sign in the window,
That he struck you, a crescendo, Annie,
He came into your apartment,
Left the bloodstains on the carpet,
Then you ran into the bedroom,
You were struck down, it was your doom..." Rudy sang.
Within Penelope's section of the labyrinth, the voices began to close nearer and nearer towards her, making her seem all but doomed to fall prey to whatever owned these strange voices. Having no one else to help her stand on her two feet again, she seemed to be unable to be helped or saved. Not able to make her way out of the labyrinth alive, Penelope had given up all hope, leaving herself go numb to fall victim to the voices.
However, before anything could begin to attack her, something snapped within Penelope's mind. Remembering that her two children were all alone somewhere else in the labyrinth, a reminded sense of dread came over her. Her children needed her; if she were dead, they would be alone and have no one to take care of them. Feeling that sense of dread come over her, Penelope began to feel control of her body return to her, not allowing that possibility to happen.
Remembering every time that she had fended for herself on her own or accomplished something in her own life, Penelope knew that she was not weak or powerless. She had made it through this far in her life, and had two bright, young children with it. Keeping the image of her children in her mind, Penelope slowly began to rise from the ground, placing all focus on her legs and feet. Despite her willpower being strong, the force that was pulling her legs down was just as strong, becoming taxing on her own strength.
"Timorous." A voice said.
"Nerveless." Another voice said.
Still not giving in to the voices' taunts and insults, Penelope placed her strength towards standing up yet again, not refusing to give in to the weakness that crippled her. Not willing to nor wanting to give up, Penelope took it upon herself to prove the voices wrong, to prove that she was not weak, to prove that she was not helpless.
With the last of her strength placed on standing her back up, Penelope finally rose to her feet again, standing strong against the voices. Upon finally reaching a standing position again, all crippling fears and anxieties that she once had were now long gone, leaving her a strong, tall-standing woman, ready to keep on surviving to protect her children.
As Penelope rose to her feet, the darkness in the labyrinth began to fade out into bright, a strange and unprecedented sense of light came into the hallway, allowing Penelope to see clearly in the dark cavern. Surprisingly, there was nothing in the hallway but herself; there were no traces nor even sense that whatever could have owned those voices were here.
While she could go on and on wondering about what the voices were and why they were saying those things, the only thing that mattered to her was the important facts: She was safe, and she was able to reach her children soon enough.
Back in 'Open' Mike's Pub...
As the song neared its closing point, Rudy let out the final moves to his dance, letting his performance go out with a grand finale. With all the patrons of the bar joining him in one final dance, the final notes began to play out to the song, the one glorious moment all shared with each other that they hoped would never end coming to its close. While the moment itself may be ended in the present time, it will forever be in each of their hearts, staying with them and influencing them for the rest of their life.
With one final strike in the air, Rudy let out the last note to the song, ending his performance.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Having brought the Zoners music as they had wished for, his trial had come to an end, and he had obtained what he was led to get by the Golden Chalk. With the trial at its end, the world around Rudy Tabootie quickly started to come apart; the Zoners disappeared one by one, various elements of the bar began to disappear, and the very bar itself all dissipated into nothing but chalk dust, leaving Rudy alone.
Or, so it seemed. As 'Open' Mike's Pub disappeared, Rudy found himself face-to-face with Carol, Carlos, and Penelope, finally having regrouped with the rest. To his confusion, Carol was holding a tree branch larger than herself, Carlos was seemingly hugging the air, and Penelope simply stood in place, but appeared fatigued. After a brief moment of confused silence, the group all quickly noticed each other, all reuniting for a group hug.
"Oh, Carol, Carlos, Rudy, you're all okay! Thank god you're okay!" Penelope said.
"I'm fine, Mama - Hey, I can talk again! Sweet." Carol said.
"Uh, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Speak for yourself. The one time I talk, not even real." Carlos said.
"What? You spoke?" Carol asked.
"Not really, nevermind."
"Hey, Carol, where'd you get that giant tree branch?" Rudy asked.
"Where'd you get the Michael Jackson outfit?" Carol asked.
Realizing that neither of them needed their procured items, Rudy discarded his white suit and hat, and Carol discarded her tree branch, creating a loud 'thud' as it fell to the ground.
"That was a lot lighter than it looks." Carol said.
With the group all reunited again, the four were all immediately had their attention grabbed by a flashing yellow light, nearly blinding all of them in an instant. As the light subsided only so slightly, the group all laid eyes on what had caused the inexplicable bright light. At last, the group had all met with what they were all seeking out on their quest.
"Rudy, is that it? Did we reach it?" Penelope asked.
"That's it. The Golden Chalk." Rudy said.